American citizens born and residing overseas, who file taxes, register with the Selective Service and are for all other purposes recognized as American, are not yet entitled to vote in all states. The Uniform Law Commission passed a model statute known as the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA) in 2010, which enfranchises Americans born and residing overseas and it is slowly being implemented by states. Currently, 36 states plus the District of Columbia have passed legislation allowing Americans born and residing overseas to vote, although several allow them to vote only under certain conditions. In the other states, American citizens who have never resided in the US and whose parents were last resident in states other than these 37, remain officially disenfranchised.[1]
REMEDY
Democrats Abroad asks Congress to encourage their states to pass legislation implementing UMOVA.
If your state is not one of the states which enables Americans born abroad to vote, contact your Congress people today and ask them to enact the UMOVA statute enfranchising all Americans and giving them the right to vote.
[1] Many states remain silent on the matter of voting rights of overseas-born Americans, which enables some to successfully vote by absentee ballot. This is no replacement, however, for a regulation that fully supports their enfranchisement, just as laws exist to fully enforce their requirement to file taxes and, for males, to register with the Selective Service